Summer Mooring - is there another way?

[Simon__]

People rarely spend money when they don't need to, so I suspect the answer to this is no.. but is there another way to go about summer moorings?

Plan A is a swinging mooring in the Anglesey area (PD, Holyhead etc.) and it's looking as though the cost will be at least £800 for a 27ft boat. Now, this might not be a bad price, but I would like to be more frugal if I can and the idea of "double paying" or paying for the mooring when I'm not on it grates on me.

I'm fortunate enough to have 5 weeks for sailing over the summer, as well as most weekends, all being well, and the idea will be to go on short cruises and visit anchorages. Being fortunate enough to have so many weeks off this year and considering the mooring is more of a "car park" while we're working (for lack of a better term), it's made me wonder whether we can move around the Irish Sea and Clyde using (paid for) visitor's moorings? The idea would be to use pre-determined, paid for moorings which allow reasonable security for the boat and safe parking for the car while we're away. If possible the boat would stay in each area for a few weeks or a couple of months.

So.. does the panel think this "remote cruising" is realistic? Have you tried this or a variant? Did it work? Are there any good visitor deals you know of? My hope is to build up a decent directory of "deals" around the Irish Sea / Clyde which would allow these hops.

I'll start us off - Caernarfon Harbour Trust moorings - £30 for a week.

 

[lpdsn]

People rarely spend money when they don't need to, so I suspect the answer to this is no.. but is there another way to go about summer moorings?

Plan A is a swinging mooring in the Anglesey area (PD, Holyhead etc.) and it's looking as though the cost will be at least £800 for a 27ft boat. Now, this might not be a bad price, but I would like to be more frugal if I can and the idea of "double paying" or paying for the mooring when I'm not on it grates on me.

I'm fortunate enough to have 5 weeks for sailing over the summer, as well as most weekends, all being well, and the idea will be to go on short cruises and visit anchorages. Being fortunate enough to have so many weeks off this year and considering the mooring is more of a "car park" while we're working (for lack of a better term), it's made me wonder whether we can move around the Irish Sea and Clyde using (paid for) visitor's moorings? The idea would be to use pre-determined, paid for moorings which allow reasonable security for the boat and safe parking for the car while we're away. If possible the boat would stay in each area for a few weeks or a couple of months.

So.. does the panel think this "remote cruising" is realistic? Have you tried this or a variant? Did it work? Are there any good visitor deals you know of? My hope is to build up a decent directory of "deals" around the Irish Sea / Clyde which would allow these hops.

I'll start us off - Caernarfon Harbour Trust moorings - £30 for a week.

Ring around and make what deals you can then see if it will save you money.

Whatever you do don't tell anyone or they'll all be trying it.

 

[RupertW]

We find this works well for us (but have to say we are not in the UK), provided our sailing is done in longer chunks and we anchor most of the time. Then either leave the boat in a yard to get work done - that's great for avoiding mooring fees in the right yards, or moored up somewhere safe. I couldn't see it being anything but much more expensive if you were just doing it for weekends.

 

[NormanS]

My understanding, which may well be wrong, is that in Scottish waters, the expectation is that boats don't stay on Visitor's Moorings for longer than three days. The clue may be in the name.

 

[fifer]

Last time I was in ABC marine at Beaumaris, the guy in the boat behind me told me he was looking to sell his mooring on the straits - £600 iirc.

Where do you put your boat in the winter?

DRB marine on the clyde is £40/week for a 27footer. If you have 5 weeks the Clyde is definately within reach, and theres some excellent sailing.

Maryport marina is ~£160/month in summer.

Sailing clubs may give the best rates.

If doing weekends, you may find the fuel costs mount up quicker than the mooring fees.

I'm taking two weeks off in June to sail over to Strangford loch (where I'll stay with some friends for a few days on the Ard peninsula. Then I'll head down to Dublin, then on to somewhere else, then back to Holyhead. This might be the sort of trip that would work well for you.

 

[Minchsailor]

I haven't had a summer mooring for getting on for 20 years ever since I left the Solent and moved to NW Scotland- but then I do a lot of sailing. Manage by leaving the boat for up to a couple of weeks on various moorings. This also has the advantage that I am not tied to having to 'get back'. But you do need to be an expert getting the best from public transport timetables.

My understanding, which may well be wrong, is that in Scottish waters, the expectation is that boats don't stay on Visitor's Moorings for longer than three days. The clue may be in the name.

Not in my part of NW Scotland - but don't abuse the system. If the mooring belongs to a pub/restaurant they want it for customers to spend their filthy lucre, but generally no problem with moorings belonging to mooring associations.

 

[Quandary]

Our local Club used to maintain a visitors mooring, in exchange the local pub let us use their meeting room , then one year someone came and squatted on it for most of the summer, defeated the object so it is long gone, now if you come you have to anchor or 'borrow' a private mooring. The latter can be risky because some of those not in constant use are no longer maintained.

 

[lw395]

A lot of places list weekly rates for visitor moorings.
But these have a habit of not being available at certain times.
Some places, I believe deals can be done Sunday to Thursday nights, but Fridays and Saturdays are full price.

I sense a risk of elaborate plans foiled by the weather or other outside force.

 

[JumbleDuck]

So.. does the panel think this "remote cruising" is realistic? Have you tried this or a variant? Did it work? Are there any good visitor deals you know of? My hope is to build up a decent directory of "deals" around the Irish Sea / Clyde which would allow these hops.

I left my boat very economically at Kilmelford for a fortnight last summer. If you displace under 4 tonnes and draw less than 1.5m you can use my mooring in Port Bannatyne for as much of July and the first half of August as you want - PM for details.

 

[Ningaloo]

As an overseas resident I face the same problems of looking for summer berths. For three years on the Baltic this was mostly ok as I tended to be cruising and moving from place to place, but now I have relocated to the UK I need somewhere as a base. I'm looking at £800+ / month at Haslar or £1,800 for the season on a swinging mooring.
I'll probably end up taking a couple of expensive months in a marina and a couple of months cruising.
I'd love any suggestions for South coast moorings...

 

[siwhi]

The French are further ahead with schemes like https://www.passeportescales.com/fr/ even if it only works for marinas at the moment.

I think there is huge untapped potential for someone to develop an app based system to offer, identify and book available moorings on a peer to peer basis. Combined with a tracker on scheme member boats it would be easy to monitor.

 

[Simon__]

Ring around and make what deals you can then see if it will save you money.

Whatever you do don't tell anyone or they'll all be trying it.

Or post them on here if they're bespoke deals, they'll murder me!

We find this works well for us (but have to say we are not in the UK), provided our sailing is done in longer chunks and we anchor most of the time. Then either leave the boat in a yard to get work done - that's great for avoiding mooring fees in the right yards, or moored up somewhere safe. I couldn't see it being anything but much more expensive if you were just doing it for weekends.

That will be the issue - if weather pushes us the wrong way and we can't find a reasonable option we could be stuck paying £400 a month in a marina.

My understanding, which may well be wrong, is that in Scottish waters, the expectation is that boats don't stay on Visitor's Moorings for longer than three days. The clue may be in the name.

Aha, maybe I've chosen the wrong word. Short term mooring is what I'm thinking - I've seen a few clubs advertise monthly rates.

Last time I was in ABC marine at Beaumaris, the guy in the boat behind me told me he was looking to sell his mooring on the straits - £600 iirc.

Where do you put your boat in the winter?

DRB marine on the clyde is £40/week for a 27footer. If you have 5 weeks the Clyde is definately within reach, and theres some excellent sailing.

Maryport marina is ~£160/month in summer.

Sailing clubs may give the best rates.

If doing weekends, you may find the fuel costs mount up quicker than the mooring fees.

I'm taking two weeks off in June to sail over to Strangford loch (where I'll stay with some friends for a few days on the Ard peninsula. Then I'll head down to Dublin, then on to somewhere else, then back to Holyhead. This might be the sort of trip that would work well for you.

If I stayed in Anglesey I think that would be the idea - to buy a mooring between the Menai Bridge and Beaumaris. Not entirely sure what the overall cost would be though with maintenance and the licence fee.

I'm in Liverpool over winter but really haven't used it enough to justify the price. DRB is a good shout and I'm tempted to join the Royal Northern opposite before I turn 31 in July, seems fantastic value at £450 for membership and mooring. It's not a continuous 5 weeks but should be enough for a few short cruises - I like your plan for Ireland and think shorter hops where we have time to appreciate the places may be better for us too, so the permanent Clyde option is looking favourite for now.

I haven't had a summer mooring for getting on for 20 years ever since I left the Solent and moved to NW Scotland- but then I do a lot of sailing. Manage by leaving the boat for up to a couple of weeks on various moorings. This also has the advantage that I am not tied to having to 'get back'. But you do need to be an expert getting the best from public transport timetables.

Not in my part of NW Scotland - but don't abuse the system. If the mooring belongs to a pub/restaurant they want it for customers to spend their filthy lucre, but generally no problem with moorings belonging to mooring associations.

The "getting home" logistics would be difficult if moving around too much so the idea would to have only a few different sites and return at the end of each weekend so there were only 3 or 4 were we had to rely on public transport. I think it'd soon get tiresome (and expensive) otherwise.

I think you have to use good faith in these situations - easy enough for someone to cut us free while we're back home if we're shysters.

Our local Club used to maintain a visitors mooring, in exchange the local pub let us use their meeting room , then one year someone came and squatted on it for most of the summer, defeated the object so it is long gone, now if you come you have to anchor or 'borrow' a private mooring. The latter can be risky because some of those not in constant use are no longer maintained.

Similar to NormanS's point - I think I've used the wrong term in "visitor". I'm meaning moorings which are intended to be let for extended periods but not a seasonal contract, such as the Caernarfon example.

A lot of places list weekly rates for visitor moorings.
But these have a habit of not being available at certain times.
Some places, I believe deals can be done Sunday to Thursday nights, but Fridays and Saturdays are full price.

I sense a risk of elaborate plans foiled by the weather or other outside force.

The logistics is the difficult part and, as you say, it won't take long for a fixed schedule to unravel.

I left my boat very economically at Kilmelford for a fortnight last summer. If you displace under 4 tonnes and draw less than 1.5m you can use my mooring in Port Bannatyne for as much of July and the first half of August as you want - PM for details.

Thank you, that's very kind of you I've actually used a lot of your posts to inform my decision on the Clyde (and the HP33A!) when searching this forum and, having managed today to get SWMBO to agree to longer car trips, will look to join the RN&CYC if they'll have us.

As an overseas resident I face the same problems of looking for summer berths. For three years on the Baltic this was mostly ok as I tended to be cruising and moving from place to place, but now I have relocated to the UK I need somewhere as a base. I'm looking at £800+ / month at Haslar or £1,800 for the season on a swinging mooring.
I'll probably end up taking a couple of expensive months in a marina and a couple of months cruising.
I'd love any suggestions for South coast moorings...

That's the compromise - if I can't get it all to align when I need it to (unlikely) and get cheap travel at short notice (unlikely) then there could be a few stings in the tale. As you say, two months in a marina writes off the seasonal swinging mooring cost.

The French are further ahead with schemes like https://www.passeportescales.com/fr/ even if it only works for marinas at the moment.

I think there is huge untapped potential for someone to develop an app based system to offer, identify and book available moorings on a peer to peer basis. Combined with a tracker on scheme member boats it would be easy to monitor.

My GCSE French is letting me down - is the idea you pay a subscription and can use any of the associated marinas in England, France and Spain?

 

[JumbleDuck]

Aha, maybe I've chosen the wrong word. Short term mooring is what I'm thinking - I've seen a few clubs advertise monthly rates.

Almost all the commercial mooring places I have been to have daily and monthly rates. Sometimes weekly as well. The only exception I can think of is Arisaig, which does not have specific visitor moorings. They will happily let visitors use a vacant mooring while the normal occupant is away, but that means you can't guarantee that anything will be available for long.

 

[[3889]]

If you want cheap Preston Marina offers £100/month summer deal, you have to stay for 3 months. Downside is the 12 mile slog out the Ribble with only one opportunity for departure, at best, each day. Oh, and very few places to go within a day's sail. Works OK for trips of a week or more but not great for weekending.
I thought the moorings in the Strait were allocated by Anglesey Council. Or did you mean £600 for the mooring tackle?

 

[Simon__]

If you want cheap Preston Marina offers £100/month summer deal, you have to stay for 3 months. Downside is the 12 mile slog out the Ribble with only one opportunity for departure, at best, each day. Oh, and very few places to go within a day's sail. Works OK for trips of a week or more but not great for weekending.
I thought the moorings in the Strait were allocated by Anglesey Council. Or did you mean £600 for the mooring tackle?

I live just down the road in Southport so it would certainly be handy but, as you mention, the access and short day sails have ruled it out for the summer.

From what I’ve seen it seems as though you licence your spot from the council and then buy the tackle so I would have thought fifer is referring to the tackle.

While we’re on the topic of moorings through Anglesey council, would someone be able to explain how it works please? Am I right in thinking you licence a patch based on the size of your vessel per meter (length?) x area (beam?) x constant (365 days?) - link to fees. Then you buy mooring tackle for (£? boat’s rated weighs 2.3 tonnes so assume tackle would be modest?). You then pay a contractor (£?) to lay the tackle and attach riser chain etc. and remove again at the end of the year. So the ongoing cost is the licence fee, laying + retrieval, and maintenance. The upfront cost being the price of the tackle?

And related to the above, although people aren’t meant to sell moorings, do people generally not give up their mooring until they sell the tackle? I’ve seen a few people saying they are selling their mooring but the tackle is rated for a much bigger boat and so, in my eyes, unnecessary for my purpose, but I suppose they won’t be willing to give up the mooring unless I buy their kit..?